The Alay or Alai Range ( ky, Алай тоо кыркасы; russian: Алайский хребет) is a mountain range that extends from the Tien Shan mountain range in

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

west into

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

. It is part of the

Pamir-Alay The Pamir-Alay (also ''Pamiro-Alay'', russian: Памиро-Алай) is a mountain system in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, encompassing four main mountain ranges extending west from the Tian Shan Mountains, and located north of the main ...

mountain system. The range runs approximately east to west. Its highest summit is

Pik Tandykul Pik Tandykul (Tandy Köl, russian: пик Тандыкуль) is a mountain in the Alay Mountains of Central Asia. Tandykul has an elevation of and is located on the international border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. See also *List of Ultra ...

(russian: пик Тандыкуль), reaching 5544 m. It forms the southern border of the

Fergana Valley The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...

, and in the south it falls steeply to the

Alay Valley The Alay Valley ( ky, Алай өрөөнү, ) is a broad, dry valley running east–west across most of southern Osh Region, Kyrgyzstan. It spreads over a length of east–west. The valley extends in north–south direction with varying width ...

.Алайский хребет

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

The southern slopes of the range drain into the Kyzylsuu or Vakhsh River, a tributary of the Amu Darya. The streams that drain the northern slopes of the range are tributaries of the Syr Darya, and empty into the Fergana Valley to the north of the range. , , is also a well-known summit. Roads from Erkeshtam to Osh pass through these mountains. Some imprecise sources seem to use the term for the whole southern curve of the Tian Shan corresponding to the southern border of Kyrgyzstan, to up north until the perpendicular extension known as

Fergana Range The Fergana Range ( ky, Фергана тоо кыркасы, ''Ferğana tó qırqası/Fergana too kyrkasy'', فەرعانا توو قىرقاسى), also known as Ferganskiy Khrebet (Феранский Хребет) ''Ferganskij Hrebet'' in Russi ...

, but strictly speaking the Alay Mountains are strictly north of

, while confusingly, Trans-Alay Range of Pamir Mountains lies to the south of that valley, as well as Turkestan Range and Zarafshan Range at far southwest.

is collective term for many systems above, but not including any of the Pamirs.

References

Mountain ranges of Tajikistan Mountain ranges of Kyrgyzstan {{Kyrgyzstan-geo-stub